China’s exports up 8.7%, imports 14.8% in May

The Dollar Business Bureau

Belying the expectations of analysts, China's exports grew 8.7% in May compared to the previous year, while imports rose 14.8%, according to an official data.

With this, the country was left with a trade surplus of about $40.81 billion for May, the Chinese government agency General Administration of Customs of China on Thursday said.

Exports in the month of May from the largest exporter of the world were expected to grow at 7%, easing a little from 8% growth in April, according to the analysts polled by Reuters.

However, the imports into the country decreased to 8.5%, after a growth of 11.9% in the preceding month.

The analysts were expecting the trade surplus of China to have expanded to $46.32 billion in the month of May from $38.05 billion in April.

Improvement in the global demand has augmented the exports from China and other trade-dependent economies in Asia in the past few months after facing decline in shipments for several years. However, investors have been focused more on the country’s strong demand for imports, mainly for industrial items such as coal and iron ore which is increasing resources prices globally.

The trade surplus of China with the US was slightly up at $22 billion in May, compared to $21.34 billion in April.

The two largest economies of the world, China and US have commenced their 100 days of trade discussion, agreed between the Presidents Xi and Trump during their discussions in Florida in April with the focus to reduce the huge US trade deficit with China.

As a sign of progress, both countries agreed to take measures by middle of July for increasing the access of US financial companies and augmenting trade in chicken and beef, among others.

Yu Jianhua, China’s Vice Commerce Minister, in a news conference in May, said, “China does not deliberately pursue a trade surplus with the US.”

Recently, Zhong Shan, China's Commerce Minister told Robert Lighthizer, the new US Trade Representative that the two countries should bolster cooperation and manage trade disputes, a statement on the Chinese Ministry of Commerce website revealed.